Patna Ganga Freshwater Fishery Hilsa Catla

Patna's location on the Ganga river bank makes it a major freshwater fish market, with Mallah and Nishad fishing communities operating boat-based gill nets and cast nets in the Ganga channel to catch hilsa, catla, rohu, and singhara for the Bihar capital's urban market. Patna's Gandhi Maidan fish market receives daily catches from Hajipur, Fatuha, and Barh river ghats and is one of eastern India's busiest urban fish markets. The hilsa upstream migration through the Ganga past Patna during monsoon provides a seasonal premium fish supply that the Patna market values highly; the Bihar Fisheries Department has stocked carp fingerlings in Patna's district reservoirs to supplement the wild catch.